Just Be Friends
by GaleSynch
Summary: AU: Fem!Percy. They were his favorite Greek myths come alive, in the flesh: a blue-eyed girl with a terrifying shield and spear, and a green-eyed girl with a glowing bronze sword highlighting her pretty features-the daughters of the Big Three. He fell in love immediately. Percy/Nico/Thalia
1. Nico I

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything.

**Warnings:** Violence. Language.

* * *

**Just Be Friends**

**Chapter One**

_Nico I_

Nico di Angelo wasn't having the time of his life. The school dance was plain stupid—he told his sister that they should've just skipped and they'd ended up arguing. As if things weren't bad enough, they were arrested by their vice principal—Nico suspected that there was something seriously wrong with that guy—for a crime they didn't do.

Well, he didn't say they did anything wrong.

"Where are we going?" Bianca whispered, her eyes darting about wildly. Nico knew this was her women intuition acting up—whatever she sensed, he had no idea since had no 'manly intuition' to match her womanly instincts.

Usually, he would've snorted at her paranoia, but even he had a sinking feeling his gut, a small voice screaming at him to run, and the hairs at the back of his neck were rising.

"Shut up," Dr. Thorn growled, jostling his sister roughly, earning a yelp of pain from the older girl.

In the dark, Nico could barely make out his sister's face. Her silky dark hair framed her olive-skinned face, her cap had fallen off, revealing her face which she always tried to hid whenever she went out—like she was ashamed to be caught around Nico or something but the eleven-going-on-twelve-year-old boy tried not to think too much about it.

"She's just asking a question," Nico grouched.

"Did I order you to speak?" Their vice principal snarled, then stopped, but his grip on their collars were as tight as ever. He sniffed the air, his nose twitching and it seriously grossed Nico out.

His sister looked as horrified as he was. Nico was mildly surprised she was so surprised. Hadn't he told her how strange things were these days? Not only did they not remember anything about their past, they were stalked by a man with one eye and he swore there was a guy with hooves.

Bianca never believed whatever he said. Either she was delusional, ignorant, or she really didn't see anything.

Abruptly, Nico was pulled from his reverie and Dr. Thorn quickened his pace and forcefully wrenched them down the corridor. He kicked the door at the end of the hallway. The door flung open, slamming loudly against the wall but Dr. Thorn paid the fallen screw no mind.

He entered, leaving the door ajar. His beady mismatched eyes were narrowed and glowed with evil.

Nico had always been good at reading people, so it was no surprise he was cowering back from the guy. He looked cruel enough to kill. Not them though, it was as if he was using them as bait.

"Don't move," Their vice-principal—Nico's ADHD mind wondered who would ever give this guy the qualifications to be one—snarled lowly. "If one of you say a word, I'll kill your sibling. Got it?"

Nico was about to protest but Bianca nodded hurriedly. Being fourteen, she was only slightly taller, but that didn't stop her from pushing him behind her, trying to shield him from danger. He felt a little insulted, he was the boy, younger or not, he was supposed to be protecting his sister. Another part of him felt warm; it was times like these that Nico would know his sister seriously cared about him instead of treating him like an annoying fly.

Nico knew he was told to keep his mouth shut but his ADHD couldn't help it. He shifted slightly, peering over Bianca's shoulder when he heard footsteps echoing down the hallway. Someone was approaching—Dr. Thorn's target. Nico wondered if that person on the other side would help them or they were as evil as Dr. Thorn.

The di Angelo siblings stiffened when the door creaked open.

Someone stepped in, Nico couldn't tell the gender nor could he see the person's face. The light from the hallway flickered, illuminating only a small part of the face. The stranger advanced slowly, not seeing Dr. Thorn creeping behind his back. Every step the stranger took made a strange sound, like hooves clopping on hard surface.

Nico was thoroughly puzzled, and the person's legs looked, disfigured, bulging out.

"It's okay," The stranger said. "I'm not going to hurt you." The voice was low-pitched—Dr. Thorn was about to jump a boy not much older than them!

He took another step closer to them. "My name is Grover Underwood, recognize me? We're from the same school. The one who choose the music, anyone?" he spoke hurriedly, sounding as if he was trying to keep himself calm. "I'm going to take you out of here, get you somewhere safe." His lips curved upwards in an attempt to be comforting—if that was his intention, he succeeded; Nico relaxed.

Behind him, Dr. Thorn raised something.

Nico's eyes widened, his fists clenching and unclenching, shooting meaningful looks behind the guy's back. Either Bianca blocked his view or it was too dark for him to see clearly. Only too late did he realize what his look meant. He crumpled when Dr. Thorn's attack struck goal.

He cried out in pain, falling to his knees.

"All three of you will come with me," Dr. Thorn said, cutting Nico's train of thought. "Quietly. Obediently. If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accurately I can throw."

What other choice did they have?

Nico threw a helpless look at the hallway, where the dance was being held at the other end, as he was ushered out of the room and forced out the school through the backdoor. He shivered slightly as the winter cold slapped him, snowflakes brushed his cheeks and landed in his hair.

He liked winter, but today was seriously too cold.

"You work for Luke," The Grover guy spoke up suddenly, he was chewing his lip nervously. Nico nearly passed out when he saw the guy's legs. Where legs were supposed to be, were furry hindquarters, hooves replacing feet. Bianca reached out to grasp her little brother's arm to refrain from passing out.

Dr. Thorn's mouth twisted in distaste. "You have no idea what is happening. You are not much, satyr, but you'll be useful to lure those girls out here. I shall send all of you to the General."

"You won't hurt Persis and Thalia!" Grover shouted back protectively. Nico wondered if they were his girlfriends or something, though he also wondered who the General was. Then, seeming to register the rest of the sentence, he demanded to know who that was.

Grover was ignored as Thorn looked toward the horizon. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."

Nico turned and saw a light in the distance, a searchlight over the sea. Then he heard the chopping of helicopter blades getting louder and closer. "Where are you taking us?" Nico demanded, his smaller form trembling.

"You should be honored, my boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play with cards and dolls."

"They're not dolls! They're figurines!" Nico yelled, leaping to his favorite game's defense. No one insults his Greek myths and games and get away with it without a sound yelling from him. What else did Thorn said again? "And you can take your great army and—"

"Now now," Dr. Thorn warned, his eyes flashing at the blatant disrespect. "You will change your mind about joining us, my boy. And if you do not, well…there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."

Nico stared at the guy in disbelief. Okay, this lunatic was even more of a Greek fanatic than he was. Was he roleplaying something?

"The Great what?" Grover asked.

"The Stirring of monsters." Dr. Thorn smiled evilly. "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"

"What do we do?" Bianca whispered, seeming to have put aside her fear of Grover to trust him with their lives.

Grover bleated nervously. "I'm not strong enough to fight him. But my friends might be able to help."

"They're big and strong men, capable of wrestling with this guy, right?" Bianca demanded, eyes wild as she threw a frantic glance at Dr. Thorn.

"No," Grover whispered back. "All girls. One's smart, the other two are Big Three kids."

"We're dead," Bianca muttered. "What Big Three—" she cried out as her back hit the snow. "What?" Some invisible force had pinned all three of them down, just as she thought they were dead meat, a girl materialized over her, shielding the younger girl's view of missiles flying over their heads.

Blonde curls fell in perfect ringlets around the grey-eyed girl, she offered Bianca a small smirk. "Don't underestimate girls. Like Grover said, I'm smart, very smart." Then she turned to glare at Grover. "You're dead, goat boy, who told you to run away?"

(And this part, Nico would never forget as long as he lived)

_They were his favorite Greek myths come alive, in the flesh: a blue-eyed girl with a terrifying shield and spear, and a green-eyed girl with a glowing bronze sword highlighting her pretty features—the daughters of the Big Three._

He fell in love immediately.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ


	2. Persis I

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything.

**Warnings:** Violence. Language. Implied f/f.

* * *

**Just Be Friends**

**Chapter Two**

_Persis I_

Persis was furious.

Not just at Grover, no, but at Thalia and herself—mainly, herself. The daughter of Poseidon was so distracted with the daughter of Zeus—particularly her blue eyes—that she'd completely missed Grover's distressed call. It wasn't until Annabeth came searching for them that she realized her best friend was in danger—along with the new demigods.

"This way," she said, uncapping Riptide and entering the dark hallways. She was acutely aware of Thalia behind her, the taller girl's breath on her bare neck—her curly dark hair had been brushed aside—as she kept her hand on her favorite magic item.

"It's cool to have an empathy link in times like these, huh?"

Annabeth shot Thalia an annoyed glance. "It would've been even cooler if we weren't in this situation in the first place."

"Too late, Annie," The blue-eyed demigoddess mumbled.

Persis ignored her best friends' banter, peering into one of the open doorways. Her sharp eye caught sight of a large indent on the lockers. "Oh-kay," she mumbled, stepping back and closing the door. "They've been here, but they—"

"Went out," Thalia finished, glancing at where the hallway ended: the backdoor laid waiting. "Awesome. Snow."

Persis shot her cousin an impressed look. "No one can do sarcasm as you; you sound like you mean it."

Thalia smirked. "Hey, I got my charms, cuz."

"I know," Persis mumbled, following Thalia as she led the trio of demigoddesses out of the school and into the waiting snow. Persis shuddered as the chill hit her head-on.

"Okay," whispered Annabeth. "here's the plan. I'll go invisible and I'll tackle the threatened ones—"

"How can you be so sure?" asked Persis, curiosity making her green eyes gleam brighter than they already were. Both girls stared blankly at her, the silence lasting far too long. "Well?"

Thalia snapped out of her daze first, scowling. "Let her finish. We're running out of time."

Annabeth waved the girls off before another argument could start. "I know because it's the most logical action for someone holding people hostage."

"Are you implying you would've resorted to such underhanded—"

"Shut up, Persis," snapped Annabeth, cheeks heating up. "At any rate, I'll do my part and you two will charge in and defeat the enemy. Thals, it'd be a good time to use your shield, and Persis, use the ocean beneath the cliffs to your advantage."

Persis scoffed.

"This is my home turf, lady, you don't need to tell me what to do."

Nodding, apparently satisfied that they wouldn't be charging in without a plan—the daughter of Athena would go crazy without a plan in every action—Annabeth whipped on her invisible cap and disappeared. Thalia flashed her a confident smirk, tapping her bracelet and darted into the forest with Persis close behind. They got close enough to hear the last snippets of conversation between the di Angelo girl and Grover.

Bianca was panicking about needing strong men to protect them, making Thalia snort in disbelief as they got closer. Grover responded with a hampering all-girls reinforcement.

Annabeth chose that moment to break in, just as Thorn readied his missile to fire.

Together, the daughters of the Big Three burst from the foliage that kept them hidden.

(And this part, she would always look back on and wonder)

_He was nothing special, just a scrawny boy with shaggy black hair, doe-like brown eyes, hiding behind his sister. It was easy to tell that they were siblings seeing as they had the same olive skin and other features._

Their eyes met; his dark eyes were filled with wonder; her green eyes were assessing; her blue eyes were focused on their enemy.

* * *

She sighed, slumping down onto the cold ground, shoulders hunched in defeat.

They'd lost Annabeth.

Persis glared slightly at the Lieutenant of Artemis, Zoe Nighshade, they said her name was. The moment they met, neither girls could get along with one another—another similarity to Thalia.

Persis had been frustrated, the reason why she didn't show Artemis much respect—and she never expected for Artemis to be a little girl—and Zoe took it the wrong way. Her voice was tight with anger when she spoke to the daughter of Poseidon. Well, if that was how she was going to act, Persis didn't think she should play nice either.

"Stupid, obsessive Huntresses..." grumbled the daughter of Poseidon moodily, doodling meaningless pictures—a stick figure with a crown in her braided hair getting impaled—on the snow-covered ground. It was too cold for her liking and though the falling snow was beautiful, she was too disheartened to enjoy it.

Persis glanced up when she heard snow crunching.

She blinked when she saw the di Angelo boy. "Hey," she said, seeing him watch her curiously.

He beamed at her. "Hey," he returned, plopping down beside the daughter of Poseidon. Grover trotted up behind the younger demigod, sighing as he settled down beside Nico. "I'm Nico."

"I know," said Persis. "Grover told us." Before she could say anything else, he cut her off.

"So, do you argue a lot with Thalia because she's the daughter of Zeus?" Persis scowled, but said nothing. Nico didn't seem too deterred. "If Annabeth's the daughter of the goddess of wisdom, why didn't she know better than to jump off the cliff?" Persis gritted her teeth, shooting him a look that read _drop it_ but either he didn't get it or he ignored it.

He tilted his head to the side, eyeing her curiously. Anytime now, Persis was sure he'd be prodding her with sticks for his own amusement. "Are you dating Thalia?'

Persis choked. "_What_?"

"She's the daughter of Poseidon I've been talking about," warned Grover, taking pity on his best friend and deciding to save her from being embarrassed to death; he gestured to Persis, he didn't look too enthusiastic though. Persis figured it was because Thalia had probably ripped him a new one with yelling. "Thalia's the daughter of Zeus. She's Persis. Show some respect."

Persis laughed. "Please, I'm not a goddess or anything. You can talk to me however you want to." From the corner of her eye, she saw Zoe walking closer to them. Purposefully, she said loudly, "I'm not some pompous ringleader of some girls's club who demands respect from everyone she meets."

Grover snorted and Nico snickered at her not-so-subtle insult.

"Perseus Jackson," snapped Zoe Nightshade, striding up to them in all her queenly glory. Persis sighed, like, _here we go again_ before turning to face the immortal maiden.

"Yes, me."

"Lady Artemis seeks to speak with thee, come."

"How... pompous," stated Grover.

Nico was grinning at her teasingly. "You still haven't answered my question. Especially the last one."

Persis shot the infuriating brat a filthy glare before stomping off.

So much for that adorable looks, he was the devil!

* * *

**A.N:** Don't be too deterred by the length, this will be in different character's pov—I'm testing this new style of writing—so some chaps might be repetitive. This story will extend to the HoO so don't worry about this ending too soon or lacking much fluff.

**Question:** Who should Nico end up with in the end?

REVIEW

\/

\/

\/


	3. Thalia I

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything.

**Warnings:** Violence. Language. Implied f/f.

* * *

**Just Be Friends**

**Chapter Three**

_Thalia I_

Thalia was anxious.

She threw glances at the tent every once in a while as she paced. Knowing Persis was in there with that stuck-up Nightshade and her goddess, being converted into an all-girls let's-hate-on-boys club drove the daughter of Zeus up the wall. Thalia wanted to storm in and haul the daughter of Poseidon out before she agreed to something she'd regret. The only thing holding her back was that Persis wasn't so weak to give in.

Thalia knew Persis didn't want to be immortal. The girl loved her friends and mortal life to a fault, being immortal and losing them someday wasn't something she wanted.

Also, Artemis could easily blast her to bits for being rude. And, Persis disliked Zoe as much as she did. Agreeing to be a Huntress would mean spending an eternity with that mythic bitch—Persis couldn't be that suicidal.

The tent's flap was shoved aside. Persis stepped out, looking furious and frustrated, but still the same old Persis—no glowing moonlit skin or anything.

Thalia was so relieved she nearly slung an arm around her friend. She managed to restrain herself by shoving her hands into her pocket, grumpily asking, "How did it go?"

"We risked our lives to save them," spat Persis. "and Bianca decided to join a girl's club even though she has no agenda against boys!"

"Unbelievable!"

Thalia and Persis glanced at one another before breaking into snickers. It was funny how they'd finish one another's sentences. But recalling Persis's earlier statement, the age old anger flooded Thalia.

The daughter of Zeus seethed, running a hand through her hair. Without spiking it up, her hair was nearly shoulder-length. Persis had said that her hair was pretty if she let it down like that—not that she cared, really, she didn't. Her hair wasn't as much of a hindrance as she'd thought.

"It's all that Zoe's fault!"

Persis looked amused. "You know her?"

Thalia gritted her teeth, and before she could stop it, her tongue had moved and spat out, "If it was any of your business, Persis—"

"Right," the daughter of Poseidon said, a flash of hurt crossing her eyes. "Sorry." She turned away.

"That wasn't very nice, y'know?"

Thalia jumped slightly, but tried not to let her surprise show on her face. It wasn't good for her reputation if word got out that she was so easily caught off guard. She crossed her arms over her chest protectively. "What do you want, di Angelo?" she demanded. The little brat of a new demigod was smirking at her, amused. Persis was right, this boy wasn't just annoying, he was someone whose bad side you don't want to be on.

She wondered if he was a child of Hermes, or even the minor goddess Eris. She'd seen some Eris kids in the Hermes cabin with the same look. But all of them had red hair and red eyes, this boy didn't have the same complexion—and Bianca seemed too nice to be an Eris kid.

Just to wipe that smug smirk of his face, the daughter of Zeus added, "You should be telling your sister that."

This took Nico by surprise but he didn't express it much other than the raise of an eyebrow. Thalia felt a little sorry for him that his older sister was going to abandon him. She gritted her teeth in anger; the simmering anger she felt when she got news that Bianca had joined the Hunt was surfacing again.

It wasn't directed at Grover for running off and getting them in trouble, wasn't directed at Annabeth who chose to recklessly endanger herself, and certainly not at Persis. She felt a flash of regret for snapping at the daughter of Poseidon. She was pissed at Bianca after all, why did she take it out on her friend?

Bianca had a little brother, he wouldn't be taken away from her and yet, she had chosen to abandon him without thought. Thalia had a little brother too, but she had lost him no matter how much she wanted to keep him. She despised people like Bianca who didn't know how to appreciate what they had.

Thalia watched sorrowfully as Nico headed over to his sister who had beckon him over.

Maybe, just maybe, she'd show the brat around once they got to Camp to ease his loneliness.

* * *

Surprisingly, Persis still talked to her.

If it had been the other way around, Thalia would've waited for Persis to apologize before she even consider talking to her. Well, this was one of the daughter of Poseidon's admirable trait, she supposed. Persis was forgiving (sometimes, she was impossible to win over though; her mood changed constantly) whereas Thalia was the complete opposite.

Didn't they say something about opposites attract?

"Thalia!" cried Persis, a wild light in her eyes. "Up! You're burning the forest!"

Oh, shit, she'd been staring too long at her companion. Thalia fumbled with the wheels for a moment before arms from behind nearly encircle her to reach the wheels. "Di Angelo?" she yelled, incredulous. "What the Hades are you doing?"

"Saving your ass!" snapped the demigod. "Up!"

For a twelve year old, Nico knew how to drive. Once they were stabilizing in air, Nico slumped back into his seat. "He should've let me drive," whined the young boy.

Thalia tried to ignore him, and the skies stretching oh so low below them. Wait, _so low_ below them?

"Down!" Apollo yelled from somewhere behind the three. "Cape Cod's freezing over!"

Persis wiggled her hand over Thalia's stunned and stiffed ones, to yank the wheel down. Thalia tried to step on the brakes, so that they could switch drivers, but by mistake, she stepped on the accelerator.

"Loosen up," said Nico, staring at her in disbelief. "You're going to get us all killed, Airhead!"

Thalia's temper flared. "Shut up, when I get my hands on you, you're dead, Deadboy!"

"Enough," said Persis. "Wait till we land safely before you guys kill one another! To the pool!"

"I can't stop it!"

"Take the wheel, Lord Apollo!"

"To the pool!" Typical thing for the daughter of Poseidon to yell. Panicking, the daughter of Zeus did as told. Too late did she realize that she couldn't swim.

"But I can't swim!" Nico protested, opening his mouth to reason with the girls, make them think more rationally.

Too late — BAM!

Thalia had barely enough time to close her mouth before the bus crashed into the pool. She gurgled; her eyes stung with pain. She knew some people could keep their eyes open underwater but she couldn't. The cold of the water pricked her skin and raised goosebumps.

She struggled to open the door but a prodding hand on hers stopped her from trying to force it open. Wait till the water fills up, a voice spoke in her head. Thalia barely registered the voice as Persis's. She could project her thoughts underwater?

The door was ripped open and Thalia was shoved out. She would've continued sinking down with the bus had Persis not caught her. The daughter of Poseidon kicked her lips and they shot upward. With no grace, she dumped Thalia onto the grass before diving back in to rescue the others.

Thalia hacked water.

She was resigning herself to spend a day without her favorite jacket but apparently, campers fell into the pool a lot. A few Aphrodite kids rushed forward, carrying an elaborate machine and blasted Thalia with hot air. When she stood, she was already dry. It got to be one of the more productive things the Aphrodite cabin had came up for the Camp even though she suspected the idea wasn't supposed to be for everyone's benefits.

Her boots got wet anyway.

Thalia glared at Nico who was clawing at his throat for air. "It just dried!"

The boy ignored her—wow, did he have a 'tude or what? Thalia was barely restraining herself from punching him as it was. Did he want to try her patience?

Persis dragged a few Huntresses onto the shore. The naiads helping their mistress and shooting Huntress after Huntress up from the pool. The daughter of Poseidon glanced pointedly at Zoe. "You better to a headcount, we might've missed someone. Don't come crying to me if they drowned or something."

Zoe glared at the impudent girl who ignored her.

Apollo climbed out of the water, dry as if he'd never taken a swim, and flashed them a brilliant grin which went ignored. "Wow, he's hot," Thalia muttered.

Nico glanced at her oddly. "He's the sun god."

She glared down at him. "That's not what I meant!"

"If he rejects you, you planning on joining the Hunt, or what?"

Letting out a frustrated yell, Thalia stormed off to the Big House. So much for playing nice with that brat.

Boys, she thought condescendingly.

She nearly tripped over thin air when she registered her own thoughts. Holy shit, she sounded exactly like Zoe! Terrible! The swim must've drowned a few of her brain cells.

Shuddering at the thought of being remotely like Zoe, she hurried to the Big House.

* * *

**A.N:** Thanks for so much review last chapter! Keep up that number of reviews and I might find myself updating everyday! ^0^ Do you guys read Naruto? If so, I'd like you guys to check out my Naruto fics.

**Question:** Do you have any suggestion as to how they should bond?

**review**

\/


End file.
